OKLAHOMA CITY — The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of an Oklahoma death row inmate from Arkansas who was found guilty of killing a 23-year-old woman during a 2005 home invasion.
Without comment Monday, the nation's highest court rejected the appeal of 50-year-old Wendell Grissom, who argued he was intoxicated when he killed Amber Matthews of Kingfisher at a home near Watonga in Blaine County.
The Oklahoman reports Grissom has exhausted his appeals and an execution date can now be set.
Executions have been on hold in Oklahoma since 2015 following several mishaps, including a botched lethal injection in 2014 that left an inmate writhing on the gurney and mix-ups in 2015 when the wrong drugs were used.
State officials are exploring the use of nitrogen gas as an execution method.